Best Smartphones for Watching Videos

TVs have got much bigger since the turn of the 21st century than they were before it. Those tiny boxes turned into giant flat-screen smart TVs and we’ve created little cinemas in our own homes. Sometimes though, it’s better to watch TV on the small screen we carry around in our pockets.

The great thing about watching videos on your smartphone, is that you can carry it around with you while you do other tasks. This makes it great for having as a companion while you cook, clean, or do other chores, as you can stream videos through the device while you do it.

You can also take your smartphone with you while you travel, catching up on TV shows on your commute to work, or watching a film to pass the time on a long flight.

If you’re looking for a new phone to watch your favorite films and TV shows on, then why not consider some of these?

iPhone 11 Pro Max

The iPhone 11 Pro Max is the largest and most powerful iPhone that Apple has ever built. The 458 ppi display measures 6.46 inches (14.9 cm) and has a resolution of 2688 x 1242. While impressive, the refresh rate is only 60 Hz, which is less than most other top of the range phones on the market today.

A higher refresh rate creates a smoother transition between frames, which is most noticeable in fast-moving games and videos. 60 Hz is still good enough for most people, but if you are the type of person that focuses on your FPS rate, then this might be a niggly problem for you.

There are rumors that Apple’s next model, likely called the iPhone 12, will have a 120 Hz display, but you probably won’t get your hands on one until the end of the year.

There’s also no 5G, so you won’t get to benefit from the faster streaming speeds that the new technology offers.

OnePlus 8 Pro

OnePlus is a brand that came from nowhere just a few years ago. It is now one of the most popular and respective manufacturers on the market.

Its latest handsets, the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, come with 5G support for faster streaming, an eight-core processor, and Adreno 650 graphics chip to ensure there are no bottlenecks in your video processing.

The OnePlus 8 Pro has a 120 Hz display that measures 6.78 inches (17.2 cm). It has a higher resolution of 3168 x 1440 and more pixels per inch (513) than the iPhone.

It’s also one of the first smartphones to use a 30-bit panel to display 1 billion separate colors, significantly more than even the OnePlus 8, which supports 16 million.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Samsung’s latest flagship phone is its first device to support 5G, giving you the fastest possible download speeds for buffer-free streaming.

The 6.9-inch (17.5 cm) display is the largest of the three, giving you a touch more real estate to play video on. The downside is that all displays have the same 3200 x 1440 resolution, meaning the S20 Ultra’s 511 ppi is lower than the 563 ppi in the base model S20.

Even at 511 ppi though, the S20 Ultra still beats the iPhone.

All models in the S20 range, including the Ultra, have 120 Hz refresh rates, giving you the smoothest viewing experience on the market.

Which is Best?

All the phones here will produce excellent quality video, whether you’re streaming or playing directly from the device’s storage, but the Android devices have a slight edge over the iPhone. There’s not much to choose between the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and the OnePlus 8 Pro, but the latter is several hundred dollars cheaper, so offers the best bang for your buck. Often it comes down to personal preference, but on spec and price, Android shows a small edge.

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Welcome to Zoo Too! I’m Andrea and this blog is all about family and mommy-hood. I cover most daily topics of life in suburbia, cooking, kids, adventures, crafts, travel and the more grown up stuff like DIY, home decor, finances and much more!